34° LAND AND FRESHWATER MOLLUSCA OF MANITOBA. 



The contributions of these gentlemen are indicated by having 

 their respective names attached. 



Those who entertain the usual English idea that the Mani- 

 toban winter is an altogether unbearable one, of purely Arctic 

 inclemency, may at first be surprised to learn that the country 

 possesses a molluscan fauna at all ; still more that I am able to 

 enumerate 72 species. Nor is this idea altogether unreason- 

 able, for it certainly is somewhat surprising that so many species 

 should be able to exist in a country where the temperature has 

 been known to be as low as — 50-5° Fahr. At the same time it 

 should be remembered that the Manitoban summer is a delight- 

 ful time. 



The one great fact which must strike all observers of the 

 molluscan fauna of Manitoba is the absence from the bare, open 

 face of the prairies of every single species of land mollusk what- 

 soever. This absence, so far as my experience goes, is total 

 and complete. On the other hand, the abundance of aquatic 

 species is extraordinary. Nearly every one of the innumerable 

 lakes and lakelets, so abundantly scattered over the prairies, 

 contains a surprising number of shells belonging to several 

 species. When the water has disappeared after a period of 

 drought, they may often be scraped up by the handful at a time. 

 Prof. Hind, in his " Narrative of the Assiniboine, Red River, 

 and Saskatchewan Exploring Expeditions of 1857 — 58," * says 

 of the southern end of Lake Winnipeg : " The beach and 

 marshes contain an infinite number of freshwater shells, belong- 

 ing to the genera Helix, Bulimus, Succinea, Pupa, Planorbis, 

 Limnceus, &c. For many hundred yards the beach is covered 

 with perfect or disintegrated forms of these shells thrown up by 

 the waves on the sand." This statement serves well to show 

 the enormous abundance of shells in, the Manitoban lakes ; but 

 as only two of the genera mentioned inhabit the water, one 

 cannot help thinking that their identification must be wrong. 



* Vol. II., p. 8. 



J.C, iv„ July, 188 



